Md. Code Regs. 26.08.04.11 - Discharge Permit Fees
A. General
Requirements.
(1) Fees collected by the
Department under this regulation shall be paid into the Maryland Clean Water
Fund. The fees shall be used for activities that are related to identifying,
monitoring, and regulating the proper discharge of effluent into waters of the
State including program development of these activities.
(2) Persons or facilities holding or
obtaining State discharge permits, except for those in categories listed below,
shall pay both an annual permit fee and an application fee, including any
additional cost as required in §C(10) of this regulation:
(a) Publicly owned treatment works;
(b) Other treatment works which treat only
sewage;
(c) Persons covered under a
general permit as described in Regulations .08 and .09 of this chapter;
or
(d) Facilities or persons
culturing or raising aquatic organisms in enclosed systems discharging less
than 1 million gallons per day.
(3) Both permit fees and application fees are
based on the total flow of all effluents discharged from a facility except for:
(a) Uncontaminated stormwater runoff;
and
(b) Thermal discharge flows
which have previously been evaluated by the Department in accordance with COMAR
26.08.03.03C(2).
B. Permit Fees.
(1) The permit fee is based on the
anticipated:
(a) Cost of monitoring and
regulating the permitted facility; and
(b) Needs for program development activities
related to management of discharge of pollution to waters of this
State.
(2) The permit
fee is based on the total flow volume of effluent discharged from the facility.
The fees are as follows:
Average Discharge Volume (gallons per day) |
Permit Fee (per year) |
Less than 1,000 | $100 |
1,000-----5,000 | 400 |
5,001-----50,000 | 1,000 |
50,001-----100,000 | 2,000 |
100,001-----250,000 | 3,000 |
250,001-----1,000,000 | 4,000 |
Greater than 1,000,000 | 5,000 |
(3) The Department will calculate permit fees
annually and will bill the permittee. The permit fees shall be paid within 30
days of receipt of the bill, unless the permittee questions the calculations or
assumptions, or both, used to arrive at the fee. In which case, the Department
shall be notified in writing within 15 days of receipt of the bill, and a
meeting shall be scheduled, if necessary, within 10 days to resolve the
dispute.
(4) Permit fees shall be
paid by July 1 of each year to cover the expenses of the ensuing fiscal year.
Fees for those permits which will be in effect for less than the full fiscal
year shall be prorated for the number of months of the fiscal year during which
the permit is in effect.
(5) The
Department may refuse to issue or renew a discharge permit or may revoke a
discharge permit if the applicant fails or refuses to pay the permit
fee.
C. Application
Fees.
(1) An application fee shall be paid
for:
(a) An application for a new discharge
permit;
(b) An application to renew
a discharge permit; or
(c) A
request to modify a discharge permit if the modification is considered
significant by the Department.
(2) The application fee is based on the cost
of the permit procedure.
(3) The
minimum application fee is $50.
(4)
The application fee is calculated by the following formula: Application fee =
volume fee x industry factor x water use factor.
(5) Volume Fees.
(a) Volume fees are determined as follows:
Average Discharge Volume (gallons per day) |
Volume Fee |
Less than 1,000 | $50 |
1,000-----5,000 | 100 |
5,001-----50,000 | 150 |
50,001-----100,000 | 200 |
100,001-----250,000 | 500 |
250,001-----1,000,000 | 1,000 |
Greater than 1,000,000 | 2,000 |
(b) Volume fees for permit modifications are
based only on the discharge volume associated with those operations affected by
the modification.
(6)
Industry Factors.
(a) The industry factors
are determined as follows:
Industry Type | Industry Factor |
Primary industry as listed in 40 CFR Part 122, Appendix A, which is incorporated by reference | 5 |
Non-primary industry but on the Department's major facility list | 5 |
All others | 1 |
(b) Facilities which wash cars, trucks, or
other vehicles are not considered to be primary industries for the purposes of
§C(6).
(7) Water Use
Factor.
(a) The water use factor is
determined as follows:
Water Use | Water Use Factor |
Process use | 2.0 |
Cooling | |
Once-through-----no additives | 0.5 |
Once-through-----with additives | 1.0 |
Contact | 1.5 |
Other (includes but is not limited to boiler blowdown, cooling tower blowdown, steam condensate, sewage, and stormwater runoff) | 1.0 |
(b) When a facility has more than one type of
water use, the highest of the applicable water use factors should be
used.
(8) The Department
will calculate the application fee upon receipt of an application for a new
permit, permit renewal, or permit modification and will bill the applicant. The
application fee shall be paid within 30 days of receipt of the bill, unless the
permittee questions the calculations or assumptions, or both, used to arrive at
the fee. In which case, the Department shall be notified in writing within 15
days of receipt of the bill, and a meeting shall be scheduled, if necessary,
within 10 days to resolve the dispute.
(9) The Department may refuse to complete
processing on any new or renewed permit or on any permit modification if the
applicant fails or refuses to pay the application fee.
(10) In addition to the application fee
calculated in accordance with §C(4) of this regulation, the Department shall
assess the applicant for any cost associated with evaluating or reviewing
mixing zone studies, variance petitions, site-specific criteria studies,
chemical or biological translator studies, or any other studies submitted as
part of an application to determine discharge permit requirements. For the
purposes of this assessment:
(a) The minimum
fee for each component (for example, mixing zone, variance, etc.) will be
established at $5,000; and
(b) The
Department shall:
(i) Obtain and provide to
the applicant an estimate for any additional costs incurred as part of the
evaluation or review,
(ii) Obtain
the applicant's concurrence, and
(iii) Bill the applicant before the beginning
of the evaluation or review.
D. Calculation of Stormwater Runoff Volume.
Stormwater runoff volume shall be determined by the following method:
(1) Annual stormwater runoff volume = Annual
rainfall (feet) x drainage area (square feet) x 7.48 x runoff
coefficient;
(2) Average stormwater
runoff volume = Annual stormwater runoff volume divided by 365;
(3) As an alternative to this method, the
permittee may submit a report to the Department which contains calculations of
the average daily stormwater runoff from the permitted facility.
E. For storm water discharges
eligible for coverage under Regulation .09 of this chapter, the portion of the
permit fee calculated in Regulation .11 of this chapter may not exceed $100 per
year.
Notes
Regulation .11B amended effective April 17, 1989 (16:7 Md. R. 813); June 21, 1993 (20:12 Md. R. 997)
Regulation .11C amended effective April 15, 1991 (18:7 Md. R. 775); June 7, 1993 (20:11 Md. R. 917); June 21, 1993 (20:12 Md. R. 997)
Regulation .11E adopted effective October 20, 1997 (24:21 Md. R. 1453)
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